New Faces in Congress is a diary series meant to highlight our new and diverse members of Congress in the Democratic Party. These 36 House freshmen range from political neophytes to seasoned legislative veterans. The series will run every Sunday morning, bright and early.
Last week, the New Faces in Congress series continued with a profile on Rep. Rob Menendez of New Jersey’s 8th district. If you missed it, feel free to click on this link to read all about him!
I’ve been waiting for his name to come up in my series, as he is my favorite new member of Congress at the present moment. He blends a knack for honing in on the critical issues of the day with nous in dealing with the media and moxie in dealing with the GOP. As the first member of Generation Z in Congress, he has a whole generation looking up to him right now — and this Millennial is very impressed.
How did he get to Congress? First, Rep. Val Demings had to vacate her seat in an unsuccessful attempt to unseat Sen. Marco Rubio. Next, a huge and convoluted primary election had to form. He had to face two former members of Congress and many other more established contenders to win. He won with a plurality of the vote, and this was tantamount to election in this blue seat.
Today, the spotlight is on Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost!
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Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (Florida-10)
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Biography
Rep. Frost had a different childhood from most politicians, as he conveys in his about page on his campaign website.
My family’s story begins in Cuba, with my grandmother Yeya. She and my mother came to Florida from Cuba during the Freedom Flights in the early 1960s with only a suitcase and no money. My grandmother worked in Miami factories more than 70 hours a week, where she was exploited and was forced to accept harsh working conditions in order to make a life for her family.
A victim of the system and enmeshed in trying circumstances, my biological mother was caught in a cycle of drugs, crime, and violence while pregnant. She didn’t have healthcare and wasn’t able to see a doctor even once. As the mother of seven, she made the difficult decision to put me up for adoption because she lacked the resources to care for and raise another child.
As a young man, I experienced police abuse firsthand and saw my community ravaged by gun violence. And I’ve experienced how working people and people of color are unjustly marginalized and left behind in our society.
His introductory video also touches upon his background as an adopted child.
He became a political activist at a very young age, supporting many different causes and candidates as his Wikipedia profile attests to.
Frost has been organizing since around 2012, when he was active with Barack Obama's 2012 presidential campaign.[9][8] He also volunteered with the Newtown Action Alliance, an organization created in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.[6] He has identified Occupy Wall Street, the Columbine High School massacre, the killing of Trayvon Martin, and the Orlando nightclub shooting as events that affected his thinking.[10] He later volunteered for Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, and Margaret Good.[7]
Frost survived an incident of gun violence at a Halloween event in Downtown Orlando in 2016.[6][11]
Frost was an organizer with the American Civil Liberties Union and worked to support Florida's 2018 Amendment 4 and to pressure Joe Biden to stop supporting the Hyde Amendment in 2019.[6] He was the national organizing director for March for Our Lives.[6][12] In November 2021, Frost was arrested at a voting rights rally in Lafayette Square led by William Barber II and Ben Jealous.[13]
Here is Frost explaining more of his background — he’s a natural!
Frost had a difficult time at first in Washington, DC. He was denied an apartment due to poor credit. He didn’t make enough before Congress, and of course his new job didn’t give him a paycheck yet.
The congressman-elect who will become the first member of Generation Z to join Congress next month said on Thursday that he was denied an apartment in Washington, D.C., because of his “really bad” credit.
Maxwell Alejandro Frost, a community organizer who is set to take the seat of Rep. Val Demings (D) representing Florida’s 10th Congressional District, tweeted that he told his potential landlord that his credit was poor as he applied to the apartment, and was told it would be fine.
But Frost said his application was denied and he lost the apartment and the application fee. He said his credit is so poor because he “ran up a lot of debt running for Congress for a year and a half.”
He said he did not make enough money working for Uber to pay for the cost of living.
Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost definitely understands today’s world and the challenges young adults (and even those not so young anymore) face. That’s probably why his biography is so appealing to me. He also doesn’t show any signs of letting Washington, DC change him — except perhaps for the better!
Notable Media Headlines
I don’t even know where to begin with the headlines Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost has made. I can start with him being the first member of Generation Z to be elected to Congress. I could start with his activism, especially surrounding gun safety. I could even link to his speeches or his media appearances where he makes the GOP seem so small and out of touch.
I will start with him being one of the most critical of the future presidential dud and current Florida governor. This was after it was revealed that Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem was banned by a school in Miami. Frost shared his thoughts.
Then of course, there was the youth rally where he shared the stage with the State Rep. Justin Jones (of Tennessee Three fame) in Washington, DC.
Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) rallied outside the Capitol on Wednesday with Tennessee State Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville), in a call for gun control and an end to “attacks on democracy.”
“We’re here today, to put it quite simply, because we’re young and fed up,” Frost said to supporters and press outside the Capitol on Wednesday. “Earlier this month, this nation watched in horror as innocent school children in Nashville were murdered in their classrooms.”
Then, he said, they remained focused on the southern state as a “far-right fascist movement” expelled Jones and his colleague Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) for protesting gun violence.
“We come with a message from the Tennessee capitol to the U.S. Capitol: that we are fed up with the attacks on our democracy and we are fed up with the endless cycle of mass shootings,” said Jones. “We are fed up with legislators and politicians who are trapped in the politics of racism. We are fed up, and when you are fed up, you got to rise up.”
Jones and his fellow State Reps. Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson visited the White House on Monday to discuss gun control with President Biden.
Then, there was when he took on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene after the latter spouted off that parents who adopt aren’t “real parents’.
This is only a smattering of choice headlines and media clips that Frost has in his young Congressional career. As I said before, he is a natural at this! He knows how to use his pulpit and notoriety well, and that will pay dividends for him later.
Bills and Legislative Priorities
Rep. Frost, with his natural talent, was given a seat on the House Oversight Committee, which is a plum perch for a freshman in Congress. In that venue, he can use his oratorical skills to great effect like in some of the clips above.
He also has been placed on the Committee of Science, Space, and Technology — another natural committee for him to be on with Disney and Cape Canaveral nearby. The work that committee does rarely makes headlines, but it isn’t like he needs to be more notorious at this point!
Some may worry that with all of this media exposure that Rep. Frost is more focused on seeking headlines than doing the actual work of a legislator. I am hoping that this section can ease any concerns on that front, because he is the whole package.
His first piece of legislation, a collaboration with Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, looks to establish an office to prevent gun violence. True, it won’t pass this year, but it shows he can craft legislation as well.
Representative Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.-10) and Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), along with Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on Wednesday introduced bicameral legislation to establish an Office of Gun Violence Prevention in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The Office of Gun Violence Prevention Act would bring together those most impacted by gun violence with leaders across federal agencies to advance policy, collect and report data, expand state and local outreach, and maximize existing programs and services related to preventing gun violence.
“As someone who grew up in a generation defined by mass shootings, an organizer to end this violent cycle since I was 15, and a survivor of gun violence myself, I came to Congress to continue the fight for a nation without fear, that’s why I ensured this was the first legislation I introduced,” said Frost. “In Orlando, just a few weeks ago, 3 people were shot and killed, including a 9 year-old girl. Gun violence is a daily event in this country, so, at the federal level, we must work on this issue every single day until we end this epidemic and establish this as a national priority– an Office of Gun Violence Prevention is the right first step.”
Another piece of gun safety legislation would require gun locks on every firearm sold in the United States.
His second effort at writing a bill into law allows those on Medicare to cover essentials when a storm hits — such as AC units, fridges, and more.
He also has co-sponsored Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, legislation that will have to wait for robust majorities in Congress sadly enough.
If you think he only co-sponsors legislation that is unlikely to pass, here is an example of him promoting legislation that could pass the next time the Democratic Party has a majority in Congress.
He voted YES on the Bipartisan Debt Ceiling Bill, but he didn’t like many of the provisions and compromises found within it. Above all though, the risk of default was too much for him to vote no on this bill.
Frost had some harsh words for the Extreme Court during their run of bad decisions a couple of weeks ago at the end of June.
Rep. Frost is in both the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, as well as a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. He votes similarly to the Squad at times, but is not a part of that group. Going through his official Congressional Twitter account is amazing (52k followers!), but his personal account is even better!
Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost is already a well known member of Congress, despite only being there for about 6 months. He seems to have taken to Washington very well, without letting it change him. He brings his organizing spirit and clear talent to work every day, whether it be working for his constituents or taking on the GOP.
I do have one fear about him though. I am afraid that he has the ambition to seek higher office one day in the future — whether it be governor or senator. That normally wouldn’t be a problem, but he is from Florida, which is a state that has gone full fascist. I would hate to lose such an amazing person in a run for higher office and then fail. That means no more Frost in Congress. 😢
Next Sunday, I will profile Rep. Jill Tokuda from Hawai’i’s 2nd district. See you then!
Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (Florida-10)
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